L’événement / Happening (2021) – 3/5

Shocks you, touches you a bit as well

„L’événement“ is a French French-language film from 2021, so still relatively recent without being super new and the director and also one of the writers of these 100 minutes is Audrey Diwan. She was nominated at the BAFTAs for her direction and that is quite an achievement as she has only directed one other film before that so far, even if she has written several screenplays in the past. In general, this film scored some really decent awards recognition. Not too much in America, but if you watch it, that is not gonna be a big surprise I am sure. Very European movie and I am not surprised and surely glad it also managed to make a few waves at the biggest French film awards ceremony (outside Cannes), the Césars. The heart and soul of the film is the young actress you see on the photo on imdb and that is Anamaria Vartolomei, who should be having a really decent career for decades to come. Lots of talent. I have not really been familiar with her before watching this film, maybe seen her only once or twice, so I will not go into detail there, but she is definitely good enough to carry this film. She is also in pretty much every scene. Same lack of knowledge from my side applies to the other cast members. My loss probably. I am not too familiar with those either, but they are all doing a good job. Vartolomei is pretty stunning and so is Luàna Bajrami, who plays the protagonist’s (seemingly) innocent friend. The mother Sandine Bonnaire reminded me a bit of Frances McDormand. Anyway, I also liked Pio Marmaï. His character does not have a great impact in terms of the story, but still he did a lot with what he had to work with and he also could have been nominated for a César in the supporting category and I would have liked it. I can see why they chose to include the first conversation between him and the main character (first with only the two of them I mean) for the trailer. It was as good as any other scene in which the two are sharing the screen.

So in terms of the plot, here we have the story of a young and really smart woman who is about to have a good career in science, probably history, but things go south quickly when she is at a party where she has sex with a fireman and becomes pregant. Once is enough in this case for major consequences. Diwan’s specific decision here was to not show us anything linked to the fateful sexual intercourse except an early conversation where we realize she found it interesting that he was not a fellow student. From what we see, we could think she is telling the truth with her response when the doctor asks her if she is a virgin. Which she is not obviously. Not telling the truth and also she is not a virgin. Maybe they did not show the act to avoid scenes in which the protagonist is depicted with lust as the film is all about her suffering for the vast majority of screen time. And also this was not supposed to feel like an adult film. There are nonetheless many sequences that include sexuality, nudity or just talk about sex. The feel authentic though, not for the sake of anything. Like how everybody in the room wants it, but is also afraid to ask at the same time. Well, she is not when she has a quickie at the toilet later on. Or look at the scene when one of her friends gets herself to orgasm to show the other two girls what it feels like. If she only knew. One of them is pregnant and the other, the innocent one I mentioned very early, has an affair with a much older man. Pretty ironic. Yet, this friend who is oh so open-minded sexually is at the same time extremely conservative and even scared when the main character talks about how somebody simply could not have a baby when pregnant. Or when she eventually reveals that she is pregnant. This is pretty telling again when her closest friend(s) then leave(s) her, but in the end when she finally loses the baby (physically), it is another person helping her, cutting the umblical cord even and that is a girl who was pretty much her foe for quite some time, but in these moments when it counts, they actually stick together.

The reference to how it is a lottery if a doctor writes abortion or miscarriage in his report was also interesting. There our „heroine“ gets lucky for once after all the suffering she went through. She tried to get rid of the baby herself by inserting a burning stick into her vagina and I can really not be shocked too quickly when it comes to films, but that was genuinely heartbreaking to watch. This poor girl. Also heartbreaking, but maybe not as much as the aforementioned scene was the „professional“ abortion then in the last third of the film already. This also went wrong or did not go as planned when the child inside her still wouldn’t die. She went through the painful process a second time and there it finally worked the way she wanted it to. I think I have not yet said that this was the late 1950s I believe, so a completely different time compared to now and having an abortion meant you would go to jail and helping or maybe even knowing about it (without telling anybody) meant the same. Look at the ways how doctors reacted to those situations too. There is the one who gives her something and tells her it will result in having an abortion, but the truth is the opposite. He was so against her decision that he lied to her in order to strengthen the baby. We hear on a few occasions that the baby is pretty strong. But there is also her regular doctor and he accepts her wish and understands, but also cannot help her because it would have been against the law. In general, I liked the way men are depicted in here. There are some rather despicable ones like the „evil doctor“ or boyfriend, but also others like the professor who kinda mentors here even, like the male friend who seems to have a crush on her and wants to get sexual, but also eventually he is the one who helps her get in touch with somebody that can make her wish come true.

This is never a film that discusses the subject of abortion from the perspective if it is good or bad or whatever. Only that it is painful. Was painful back then. The protagonist has made up her mind since the moment she finds out about the pregnancy. She does not want the child. She does not want to become the other girl (the one lacking answers) in the room we see earlier who is also pregnant (not secretly) and on course for a career as a mother and housewife probably the next decades. We find out the main character wants at least one child at some point in the future, but the right time for that has not come yet. It is not the now. Her relationship situation also does not help her too much. Yes, she has some people and a family (potentially) supporting her, but her boyfriend (the firefighter or pompier as the French say, I like the word) is absolutely against her having the child, even if his reasons very much differ from hers. The two are not a match made in heaven. Just about attraction. Not a lot more than an occasional sexual encounter and they also do not work particularly well as a couple. This becomes obvious pretty quickly the last time they share the screen and we realize she is on her own again and cannot expect any support from him. Also no emotional support. A lot was done right with this movie. It felt very authentic and I enjoyed the watch overall, even if I am not sure „enjoying“ is the correct word here given some of the scenes I mentioned earlier too. I also liked the ending. The struggles are behind her (no remorse, she still calls the pregnancy an illness) and we see how headstrong she is when it comes to living her dream. How she surely likes her professor, but does not want to teach the way he wants her to teach. Writing seems to be her thing. The last shot with her being ready to take the exam is also quite nice. We do not know if she will pass, but it seems likely. She is fully back on track again and pretty much in the exact same spot she was in at the beginning of the film before the „nightmare“ started.

There is some good writing going on here. Just one example: When she goes to see the mysterious woman to have the abortion, we do not see any last-minute changes in mind or so that would have felt forced and like pseudo drama and not fit at all. On one or two occasions, I considered giving the film an even higher rating, but taking everything into account now, I’d say this is a fine film that is closer to being a great film than to being a weak film and I think it makes for a good and important watch, especially if you share one or several similarities with the main character, like if you are female, if you are French or maybe even in case you grew up the same time she did and experienced how abortion was perceived over 60 years ago. Different times back then. Not just in France of course. I approve of this film being made and I hope it will be seen by many over the years. Unfortunately, the room during my showing was almost empty. I think there were maybe two other people watching, but then again, it was also the time where the film was almost removed from theaters and not new and fresh anymore on the big screen. And also not a film you really have to see at the movie theater. Alright, that is it then. As stated before, I give a thumbs-up here and a recommendation that is as positive as the main character’s pregnancy test would have been if they had those back then already. Also some nice depth here and small scenes that make it count like the way the main character hugs her mother when she knows that maybe she will die from the abortion even and might never see her again, but she knows it is the risky, yet right road for her to take in order to find her kind of happiness in life. You will surely find several other moments like this one that will stay memorable for you. Go for it!